


i think we're alone now

by malignance



Category: Good Morning Call (TV)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-24
Updated: 2019-03-24
Packaged: 2019-12-06 20:05:48
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,876
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18224822
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/malignance/pseuds/malignance
Summary: Nao remeets an old friend, and things take a turn for the better.





	i think we're alone now

**Author's Note:**

> this kinda sux but ... im sending this off into the void .... bc i think issei is best boy n this is wht he deserves

It would be foolish to say that every minute Nao spent with Uehara was spent in unhapiness, she knew that. She knew as much as he did that they shared many moments of joy, and laughter, and genuine peacefulness. But in the end, at this very moment, the times she had spent crying because of him, blaming herself for things he was equally at fault for, thinking that she was the only one who was invested in the relationship, believing that she came second in moments where she should've come first, the overwhelming amount of time in their relationship she had spent miserable, almost makes all the times she had spent happy practically non-existent.

It's not Uehara's fault.

_It's not Uehara's fault?_

Who decided that?

Maybe it was. Maybe it was all his fault. 

Maybe if he hadn't spent so much time hoping that Nao would somehow read in-between the lines instead of just explaining things to her, there wouldn't have been so many misunderstandings between them, maybe if he had showed once in a while that he truly loved her and appreciated her, she wouldn't have to doubt his feelings for her so often. 

But she knows too, no matter how much she blames him, no matter how much she can convince herself he was the one in the wrong, that things had ended up this way because of her too, not just him.

Despite that, she also knows that she tried her best, even through all those times she was riddled with insecurities, not knowing whether he actually liked her or not, she tried her best to be a good girlfriend, a nurturing girlfriend, an understanding girlfriend, she tried to change herself in ways she thought he would appreciate more, she put in all that effort just for him, just for them.

Only to see that all go down the drain.

In the end she realised she had never really known what kind of girlfriend he wanted, who he wanted her to be, and that he didn't really want her to change. But he hadn't said a word, even then, even while they were arguing. Sure he talked, but never about anything important, never about what he really wanted, what he really thought. During their last, final fight, she saw the disappointment there, in his eyes. She knows now that part of him had hoped she would just figure it out herself, that she would just,  _know,_ but she wasn't a goddamn mind reader, how could she have known?

But that, seeing the way he had seemingly lost faith in her, is what helps her understand after everything. She could never be what he wanted, he wanted her cooking, her kindness, her attentiveness, sometimes she thinks he even liked the way she fumbles over her words and tripped over thin air, but he had wanted all that, and also he had wanted someone who could understand him without him having to voice his thoughts, someone who knew when he needed his space, someone who didn't have to be told to do things and would just do them, someone who, in the end, was nothing like her. And when Nao finally understood that, she thought,  _ah, that could've never been me, I could've never been that girl for him._

So she walks away. 

 

 

 **Nao:**  can i stay over at your place for a couple nights?

 **Marina:** of course, why tho?

 **Nao:**  i broke up with uehara

 **Marina:** WHAT?????

 **Nao:** are you home right now?

 **Marina:** yes, but, are you okay?

 **Nao:** i'll be there in 10 mins. we can talk about it when i get there

 

 

Nao tries her best to explain it all to Marina, who makes her best effort to understand just why Nao had left Uehara, but still couldn't quite grasp it.

"Does that mean you fell out of love with him?"

Nao sighs, and lets her head fall onto Marina's coffee table.

"No. I'm still in love with him, I think. I just, don't think we could've had a good future together. Uehara wants something different in a girlfriend, he wants things that I can't give to him, and I... I just don't want to cry anymore, Marina. I want to be happy, like  _happy_ happy, and for more than just five minutes, I don't want to keep reliving that same cycle. Arguing, hurting, crying, forgiving, then back to arguing again. I can't do that anymore, I just can't. I want to be happy, is that selfish of me?"

Marina furrows her brows, and shakes her head.

"That's not selfish, Nao, you are not selfish for wanting to be happy. You deserve to be happy, and if you think that you'll really be happy without Uehara, then I'll fully support that, and you."

She's grateful, she is, but somehow it's hard to believe she isn't selfish for doing what she's doing, for doing things for herself. So much of her life had been dedicated to Uehara, just Uehara, the things she learnt, the food she cooked, the places she went, the job she had, now that she didn't have to do those things for him anymore, she finds herself at a bit of a loss. He'd taken up so much of her life, and she hadn't even realised. She has a feeling that maybe living by herself, for herself now, would be more of a challenge than she had initially thought.

 

 

 **Abe:** nao ... how r things??

 **Nao:**  things are okay, why?

 **Abe:** just checking up on you

 **Nao:**  thanks, but i'm fine, really

 **Abe:** well i also wanted to talk to you about something actually

 **Nao:** what is it?

 **Abe:** ummmm you see .... uehara's rlly depressed and i just think that you guys should like ... make up already, i know you guys have big fights sometimes but surely you can just make up n get through it like always? i know you two still love each other, so come on lets just make nice n go back to how things were before

 

 

Nao gets it. She does. Abe is Uehara's friend and he's worried, but still it makes her angry, it hurts her. It hurts that Abe is talking to her only for Uehara's sake, it hurts that he doesn't respect her decision enough to believe she's serious about it. It hurts, all of it, the entire situation. Her heart  _aches,_ and she's finding it harder and harder to stay positive and optimistic as the days go by. 

She craves that sense of normality again, like she's just doing as she usually does. She misses laughing, she's constantly craving company, but doesn't want to burden her friends at the same time. It'd been two weeks now, she should be fine, right? So why was everything still difficult? Why did everything still feel strange? Why does it still feel like she can't laugh as loud as she used to?

"Hey, Nao, are you listening?"

"Huh? Oh, yeah, sorry!"

"You're spacing out a lot lately, you alright?"

"Yeah, totally fine!"

"As I was saying, I'm going to check out this new ramen place that Ota recommended, you want to come with?"

"Sure, sounds good."

Nao realises that her life is kind of at a stand still at the moment, where things are in that state that feel like they don't make much sense, but  _this,_ this was a little too weird.

"Icchan?"

Issei's standing there, behind the counter in the ramen shop Nao and Marina had just stepped into, apron and all, seemingly just as frozen as the two girls were.

"Oh, hey."

Marina jumps into catching up with Issei easily, while Nao takes a seat, and just slowly tries to wrap her head around seeing Issei again. The last time she had seen him, things were a bit tense, but back then,  _everything_ was tense. Still, she hadn't really thought about what it would be like to meet him again, and now that she was sitting in front of him, she wasn't exactly sure how to respond. The not heartbroken, normal Nao would probably smile, laugh, celebrate bumping into an old friend, so she tries that. She attempts to smile.

It clearly doesn't work too well.

Marina shoots her a concerned glance, and Nao quietly excuses herself to the bathroom.

The pity was maybe one of the hardest things to handle.

"Is Yoshikawa alright?"

Marina just sighs, watching absentmindedly as Issei does his work.

"She's been like that ever since she broke up with Uehara."

At the moment Issei hears those words, he feels a little hope spark somewhere. He almost hates how that was his immediate reaction to the news, but other than that, he doesn't react much.

"What happened? She finally got tired of crying over him?"

Marina nods.

"Yeah, actually. She said she realised that she could never give him what he wanted in a girlfriend, and that she could never truly be happy in a relationship with him. Apparently someone had told her a while ago that a relationship was supposed to be equal, and ever since then she'd started to look at her relationship with Uehara a little differently, and those person's words had helped her realised she deserved a little bit better. Not that she'll admit that last part, for some reason that idiot thinks wanting to be happy is selfish."

This time Issei reacts, and freezes. That was him. He had said that, hadn't he? Does that mean he was inadvertently the reason why Nao and Uehara broke up?

_Shit._

When Nao returns from the bathroom, Issei goes back to focusing on work, and tries to avoid eye-contact when serving Nao her ramen. He's hoping she doesn't notice, and hoping that his actions don't betray how frazzled he currently feels.

Things are fine for the first fifteen minutes, but then Marina has to go to the bathroom, and now Issei and Nao are alone.

He does a cursory check for other customers in the store, and,  _yep,_ they're alone.

"Uh, so, how are things?"

He can clearly see they're not very good, but can't seem to come up with anything better to say.

"They're okay, the same as always."

She's lying, it's obvious she's lying.

Issei sighs.

"You're a horrible liar."

Nao tenses for a minute, but then lets her shoulders drop, and lets her head fall onto the counter.

"Sorry, it's just, well, I broke up with Uehara, and ever since then, things have been really weird. I don't really know how I feel about all of it, even now."

Issei frowns, and is half tempted to go over there and just wrap her in his arms until she's okay again, but knows that's not what she wants right now, so he just, stays where he is.

"Yeah, Marina actually told me about it earlier. I'm sorry, honestly I feel like I'm partly responsible for it .... she said that you really took that stuff I said when we went on that trip to heart."

Nao's head shoots straight up at this, and she's almost violently shaking her head at him.

"No! Me and Uehara breaking up isn't your fault at all, Icchan. And you don't have to be sorry about what you told me that day, because you were right. A relationship is supposed to be equal, and mine and Uehara's was nothing like that. What you told me that day helped me realise that I didn't  _have_ to do everything on my own, and yeah, in the end that lead me to realising that meant our relationship couldn't function at all, but I'm  _glad,_ honestly. If our relationship only functioned with just me, all the time, doing all the heavy work, it would've never worked out. I might've died from dehydration if I just kept crying about him."

Issei's glad that, at least, Nao didn't regret leaving Uehara. He knew that there was going to be an adjusting period after ending a relationship, and that Nao just needed a little more time. Uehara was her first love after all. 

"Well, I'm glad you figured all that out. I guess now you can have a fresh start."

Nao's expression falls a little.

"Fresh start, huh? It's a lot harder than it sounds."

Issei laughs.

"You're doing better than you give yourself credit for. But if you're feeling down again, drop by, and I'll serve you ramen so good you forget everything else."

Nao laughs too. 

"Really? I'll hold you to that promise."

 

 

 **Marina:**  hey

 **Issei:** what's up?

 **Marina:** i need you to deliver ramen to nao's apartment

 **Issei:** uh ok

 **Marina:** and also i might need you to take care of her for a bit

 **Issei:** what

 **Marina:** she has a fever

 **Issei:** and

 **Marina:** come on!!! just look after her for a bit today, i'm busy so i can't go, and i don't trust her to look after herself

 **Issei:** fine.. but, what am i delivering the ramen for

 **Marina:** she texted me saying she wanted it. i told her she probably should eat something else but she insisted

 

 

This is exactly what Issei didn't want, alone time with Nao. 

When she had went off to college, hand in hand with Uehara, he had more or less told himself to give up at that point. But now she was all of a sudden back in his life, single, and now they were alone in her apartment.

Issei wants to cry.

"Hey, Idiot-Who-Has-A-Fever, you should eat porridge when you're sick, not ramen."

Nao groans from under her blankets.

"You said the ramen would make me feel better if I feel down."

Issei rolls his eyes.

"Yeah, if you feel down, not if you feel sick. When it comes to feeling sick, you get my family recipe porridge instead, and it'll cure that fever right away."

He hears a barely audible "Yay." and laughs to himself as he prepares the porridge.

For the most part, taking care of a sick Nao was easier than Issei had initially expected, and being alone with her wasn't too stressful, not when she was in and out of consciousness anyway.

The hard part does come eventually though, when Issei's about to step out to take some of the trash out to the garbage disposal, when he hears the apartment next to Nao's open (Uehara's apartment, he learned, when he had first arrived). He hears two voices, one that was unmistakably Uehara, followed by a female voice. For a second he starts to worry, wondering if Nao had heard it, and if she would be upset.

And then suddenly someone's knocking at the door, and before Issei can even properly react, Uehara pulls the door open.

Issei just stands there for a moment, unsure of what to do next, before Uehara speaks.

"What are you doing here?"

Uehara's angry, and part of Issei wants to be angry too, but mostly he just finds it a little sad.

"Visiting. Do you need something?"

Uehara narrows his eyes at Issei, like he's trespassing. Issei wants to scoff. If anyone didn't have any business being here, it was Uehara now.

"Not from you. I have to talk about something with Nao."

Issei steps a bit closer, blocking Uehara from looking around too much.

"She's asleep, so you can come back later."

He can see the way Uehara tenses, like he wants to argue back, but he doesn't say anything, and just walks away.

He frowns. Uehara had come over here, for what? He had gotten mad at Issei being at Nao's apartment, when he himself had female company over? Issei really doesn't think he could ever like Uehara.

"Icchan?"

Issei quickly shuts the door, and rushes over to Nao's side.

"I'm here, what's wrong?"

Nao attempts a sleepy smile.

"Nothing. I heard someone at the door, was it...?"

Issei nods.

"Yeah, it was Uehara."

Nao slowly shuts her eyes.

"Was he angry? When he saw you?"

Issei nods again.

"He was."

Nao's face is relaxed, for the most part, if not for the way her brows are furrowed.

"You know, part of me was hoping he would be. But the bigger, louder part, doesn't want to care anymore."

Issei hums in thought.

"The fact that there's already a part of you that's ready to move on is pretty good, don't you think?"

Nao cracks a small smile, and then yawns.

"You might be right."

 

 

 **Marin:** NAO!!!!!!

 **Marin:** NAOOOOOOOO

 **Marin:** N

 **Marin:** A

 **Marin:** O

 **Nao:** marina what???

 **Marin:**  ugh you had me worried for a second

 **Nao:** why??

 **Marin:** i was having issei text me updates on your condition but he stopped texting all of a sudden so i thought maybe something happened

 **Nao:** he just fell asleep!! everything's ok

 

 

_Yeah, sure, everything was okay._

Nao's fever was a lot better after she had woken up, but now that she was awake, she could feel Issei's hand over hers, and more importantly, Issei's sleeping head resting on her blanket. She doesn't really want to wake him up, she wants to let him rest just a bit, knowing that he had been up taking care of her, but she also really, really,  _really_ had to pee.

She appreciated Issei's help, yes, but not enough to wet the bed so as to not wake him.

 

Thankfully she doesn't have to wait long, because after just a few seconds, there's the sound of a door slamming shut nearby, and Issei almost jumps up at the sound.

As Issei begins to regain his senses, Nao takes the chance to dart to the bathroom.

When she returns, Issei's at the kitchen sink, washing last night's dishes.

"Hey, I can do the dishes!"

Nao bounds over to the sink, just shoving her hands at the pile of plates and bowls.

Issei rolls his eyes, and presses a hand to her forehead. The action surprises her a little, and stuns her for a moment.

"You're still pretty warm, you just go back to bed and rest until you're fully healed. I can handle the dishes."

She pouts, but doesn't protest, and slips back under her blanket. While listening to Issei washing the dishes, she reaches her hands up to cup her cheeks,  _Yeah, warm, maybe I do still have a bit of a fever._

 

 

 

 **Nao:** thanks again for yesterday!

 **Issei:**  just make sure you tell ALL your friends to stop by the ramen shop okay? we need the business

 **Nao:** yes sir!!!

 **Issei:** and make sure you're taking better care of yourself. if you get sick i won't baby you again

 **Nao:** :(((((

 

 

 

 

After that, after Nao recovers from her fever, everything else seems to fall back into place again. She feels herself laughing like she did before, having fun again, experiencing life like she did before. Maybe that fever had just been the last bits of the bad stuff left that she had to get over, and now that she had healed, everything seemed to be good again.

"Icchan again? Aren't you a little tired of the ramen there now?"

Nao shrugs.

"Not really. It's good! Why would I be tired of it?"

Marina and Ota exchange a glance (something that Nao doesn't notice).

"You sure you're not going there for another reason? Other than the ramen?"

Nao looks confused.

Marina sighs. 

Ota just laughs.

"No? What do you mean? What other reason?"

Marina mumbles a "Nevermind" as they all head down a familiar road, then find themselves in front of Issei and his boss.

"We're back!"

Issei chuckles.

"I see that, I'll have your orders ready soon."

Marina knows that Nao doesn't even actually like ramen all that much, but lets her remain oblivious, at least for now. She knows if Nao realised her own feelings she would just feel guilty, like it was too soon, like it was too early to move on from Uehara. When she thinks about Nao thinking those things, all she wants to do is shake her shoulders and tell her that there's no such thing. People move at their own pace, and if a month away from Uehara was enough for her to move on and start liking someone else, then that was _fine_ , that was more than fine.

All she can do for now, is make up an excuse about how she has an assignment to do, and drag Ota away with her, and leave Nao and Issei to themselves.

"Yoshikawa, I need you to try something for me."

Issei fumbles around in the kitchen, before bringing out a large parfait.

"You're letting me eat that whole thing?"

Nao almost starts to drool just looking at the dessert. 

"Yeah. We're planning on adding it to the dessert menu, so I need you to tell me if it's good or not."

Issei for the most part, just watches Nao eat with incredible speed, as she devours the dessert in less than five minutes.

"It's good! It's really good! If you added it to your menu I'm sure lots of people will enjoy it!"

Nao's grinning, bright, glowing just like before.

Issei can't help but smile at the sight, before noticing that there was a bit of whipped cream on the corner of her mouth.

Before Nao can even react, Issei's holding her chin in one hand, and brushing the whipped cream off with a tissue with the other hand.

"I'll tell my boss the parfait is a go then."

Nao hasn't even fully registered what just happened as Issei turns and retreats back into the kitchen, but when she does, her cheeks involuntarily turn a bright shade of pink.

 

 

 **Nao:** this is BAD

 **Marina:** what

 

 

 **Issei:** this is bad

 **Marina:** what

 

 

 **Marina:** oh my god

 **Mitsuishi:** what????

 **Marina:** i think nao and issei like each other

 **Mitsuishi:** WHAT??????? ISSEI??????? WHEN DID THEY EVEN MEET AGAIN???????

 **Marina:** oh yea i forgot to tell you. we went to a ramen shop near campus the other day n he was working there

 **Mitsuishi:** THE OTHER DAY? WHICH DAY? WHEN?

 **Marina:** a day ... like ... a month ago ......

 **Mitsuishi:** a MONTH?????????

 **Marina:** sorry!! i just didn't think it was important enough to mention ... and i had no idea nao was going to end up having a crush on him

 **Mitsuishi:**  left out of the loop .... yet again ....... wondering ..... who my true friends are .................

 **Marina:**  shut up!!!!!! there are more pressing matters to deal with

 **Mitsuishi:** wow. ... my gf told me to shut up .....

 **Marina:** if you continue to be this annoying i will never tell you anything ever again

 **Mitsuishi:**  so we need a plan to get them together

 **Marina:** now we're talking

 

 

 

Things progress, sort of, but then they backtrack, and now Nao isn't sure where they are and what's happening anymore. In the back of her head, she thinks,  _maybe I should've let Marina do whatever plan it was that she had come up with,_ but she refuses to listen to that voice. She was _fine_. They were _fine._ Things were- things were.... things where messed up.

Getting Nao to admit that she even had any sort of feelings for Issei was the first hurdle (of many). 

Nao had been so worried about so many different things. She'd thought it was too easy, too quick, she'd thought that she should've been sadder, for longer, and that she shouldn't have moved on so quick, she felt guilty. What if she was moving on, but Uehara was still stuck in the same place? What if she was moving on, but would just get her heart broken again? 

But whenever that last question popped up, she thinks back to before, earlier, when she was still in high school, when she had been crying about Uehara (as usual) and Issei had wrapped his arms around her, pulled her close, and then said "You also have me."

At the time Issei had said that didn't mean anything, that he was just joking. Nao had never given it much thought until now. What if he wasn't? What if he really did like me then? What if he still likes me now?

But she knew getting her hopes ups could just lead to even worse heartbreak, so she doesn't dare let herself go there, just focuses on worrying, focuses on the guilt, on how she feels this might be wrong, on how she could hurt Uehara, even though she knows she shouldn't be worrying about that anymore.

Issei is a whole different ball game.

He's done this before, he knows what Nao's pink cheeks mean, what her little smiles mean, what her lingering gazes mean. But it's  _Nao._ Nao is oblivious, and silly, and clumsy, and naive, and cute, and kind, and caring and-  _fuck._

But he'd been there too, for those times when Uehara had made her cry, the times he had made her smile. Knowing all that, felt like there was a weird wall Issei couldn't get over. Like maybe he could never live up to what Uehara had given her (not that he'd given her all that much, actually), that maybe he'd disappoint her somehow.

And then there's the last, scariest thought. That Nao could never love him as much as she loved Uehara, that Issei will always come second to him, and that in the end they'll just ruin the relationship they already had trying to make something they weren't sure was going to work, work.

So they go back and forth, trying but not trying too hard, asking but not asking too much. 

It drives Marina crazy, but as much as she wants to just knock their heads together and make them kiss, she knows that's the last thing they need. She'd just have to wait.

And keep waiting.

And wait even more.

 

 

 **Marina:** valentines day is tmr

 **Nao:** are you going to get me chocolates??

 **Marina:** are you going to get issei chocolates?

 **Nao:** !!!!

 **Marina:** that better be a yes. there's no better opportunity than valentines to tell someone how you really feel

 **Nao:**  i knowwww but ahhhh !!!!

 **Marina:**  pls do it before i lose my mind

 

 

 **Marina:** valentines tmr. u + nao + chocolates

 **Issei:** i

 **Marina:** u take the chance or u regret for the rest of ur life that u didn't say anything

 **Issei:**  i see your point .....

 

 

 

 **Nao:** icchan!!

 **Issei:** yes?

 **Nao:**  um do you want to have lunch tomorrow?

 **Issei:** sure

 **Nao:** great!! i wanted to thank you for always making me ramen, so i thought i'd cook for you for a change!

 **Issei:** cooking ramen is my job, so you don't really have to thank me for it. but i won't say no to a free meal

 **Nao:**  :D

 

 

Issei's palms are unbelievably sweaty, which is new. He's done this before, he's gone over to Nao's apartment before, he's had a meal with Nao before.

None of those things had been on Valentine's Day though. 

"Whoa, you made a whole feast."

Nao laughs a little, fidgeting slightly with her skirt.

"Yeah, I got a little excited and made too much."

_Don't read into what she means by excited, don't read into what she means by excited, don't read into what she means by-_

"Well, it all looks great."

Lunch is a tense affair, and definitely not a good tense. They were both talking, but neither of them were really listening, so it was like they were having separate conversations with themselves, just in front of each other. This continues for the majority of the meal, at least until they both get a text from Marina, at the exact same time, saying the exact same thing: Get on with it!

After that it feels a little easier to talk, and listen, and they start to just enjoy themselves like usual.

But then all the food is gone, and it's back to tense.

There's still one thing Nao hasn't brought out yet, the homemade chocolates. But she was just a bit scared, a bit hesitant, and Issei (who had gotten store bought chocolate) was feeling the exact same.

"Uh, Icchan, you know. Actually, today I invited you over because I wanted to say something."

Nao's looking down, and blushing, and Issei really wishes this means what he thinks it means.

"What did you want to say?"

Then the rest kind of just, snowballs. Nao talks for about ten minutes, dancing around the subject, telling Issei that she liked him without really saying it, and then halfway through, just shoving the chocolates into his hand, while still rambling, and blushing furiously, and still not looking at him.

Issei just laughs, and Nao finally stops talking.

"Why are you laughing?"

Issei just smiles, before giving her the chocolate that he had bought.

"I was going to give some to you myself. They're store bought though, because I'm horrible at baking, and I'd rather not have to put you in the hospital with my terrible chocolates."

Nao opens and closes her mouth a few times, before finally looking up at him.

"Really?"

Issei nods.

"Really."

Then Nao grins, impossibly wide, and leans over the table, over the empty dishes and gives him a quick kiss.

Issei practically leaps across the table when she pulls back, only to draw her close for another kiss, a proper one this time.

 


End file.
